A former Kent Police officer has told an inquest he did all he could to ensure fair investigation of a fatal shooting.

Insp Karl Thomas, who has since left the county force for job with police in Canada, was involved in both the preparation and post-incident management of the operation which led to the killing of wanted criminal William Smith in Goudhurst in May 2016.

The fugitive - described in court as a "career criminal" - was hit by three rounds, one above the left eye and two hitting him in the chest, when cornered by police at an orchard owned by his father-in-law.

Giving evidence to the inquest into the 36-year-old's shooting via video link from Ontario yesterday, Insp Thomas was questioned about the hours after the killing and efforts taken to keep the key witnesses apart in anticipation of a subsequent investigation by the police watchdog, then known as the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

Earlier yesterday morning the hearing at County Hall in Maidstone had heard about the former Kent officer's role in authorising firearms resources in the hunt for Smith, who had broken his bail while under suspicion of the brutal murder of Biddenden pensioner Roy Blackman in March 2016.

His trans-Atlantic evidence continued in the afternoon and he was questioned by Maya Sikand, junior counsel for Smith's family, about his role as the Post Incident Manager (PIM) immediately after the operation on May 1 which led to the fugitive's death.

"One of the fundamentals of good practice is to ensure that firearms officers involved are kept apart," Ms Sikand said.

However Insp Thomas replied that there was no specific policy in place for him to enforce, saying: "Those officers may well have separated themselves, they were aware of their obligation not to confer."

Ms Sikand then referred the jury of eleven people to a transcript of a police radio transmission recorded on the night of the shooting, in which someone is heard to have said that key police witnesses would be kept apart. However the identity of that voice is not known.

John Beggs QC, counsel for Kent Police, then took up the questioning of the witness. "Realistically this was the sort of job that was going to end with armed officers as part of the tactics," he asked the former officer. "Yes," he replied.

Mr Beggs went on: "Did you do your best to ensure that the IPCC could do whatever they liked, independently, to investigate." Again a one-word response, "yes."

"Did you comply to Kent Police post-incident policy to the best of your belief?" Thomas agreed he had.

Putting his final question, Mr Beggs asked: "Did you do anything to undermine the integrity of that investigation by the independent body?"

"No sir," came the reply.

The hearing continues.

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